Blood Moon
by Kibibe
Summary: After Jacob too abandons Bella in New Moon Victoria takes advantage of the opportunity. Will the Cullens be able to save her or is it too late?
1. abduction

**Blood Moon**

**abduction**

It was 2 am and Bella was still lying in her bed wide awake. She was scared to close her eyes. Her gaze fixed on the window. Listening intently for any unusual sounds in the house. Victoria was still after her. She could come and get her any minute now. But Bella wasn't afraid for herself. She didn't care anymore if she lived or died. Now that he was gone. Now that he didn't want her anymore. Now that he didn't lover her anymore. If she wasn't such a damn coward, she would have done the job herself by now. She would have put Charlie and everyone else out of harms way. But no, she didn't have the guts to do it. No wonder he had left her. She was ::weak/ugly/pathetic::. Edward had realized that and now Jacob had too. She wasn't worthy of their ::love/their attention/their time::. So they left her. And now there was no one there to protect her. They were all gone. They had all abandoned her. She had to face this on her own.

Suddenly there was a flash of red outside on the other side of the road. It was gone within a heartbeat, but Bella was knew it was Victoria. She was finally here. Her breath caught in her throat. It was time. The hair in the back of her neck stood up and she crawled backwards holding the blanked in front of her face, peaking over the edge. As if that would help. As if Victoria couldn't see her when she tried to hide. But the fear had washed away every coherent thought. She had thought she was prepared, but now that her time was up her mind was blank, paralyzed by fear.

Then the flaming red hair was right outside her window, blowing wildly in the wind. The catlike eyes focused on her. A smirk on her lips. She looked like a lioness ready to attack - graceful and fatal. Everything went so fast Bella couldn't grasp it at first. The redhead smashed the window, grabbed her prey and retreated. When Bella finally realised what had happened she was at least somewhat relieved. 'She spared Charlie' She thought. He was probably standing in her room by now looking for her, woke up from the smashing of her window. He was gonna be crushed once he realized that she was never coming back. And she didn't even get to say goodbye. But at least he was alive and well. They were already miles away running through the forrest like she had done with Edward. Bella wondered where she was gonna take her. And how long it was gonna take her. 'If you knew what she had planned for you ...' Laurant had said. Whatever that meaned. But maybe she'd slip like Jasper did and make it quick ... somewhat accidentally or something.

Then Victoria suddenly came to a stop and Bella was thrown roughly into a wall. She fell to the ground. 'Ow destination reached. Here goes nothing' Bella thought. Then she looked up at the redhead with terror in her eyes wondering again how long it was gonna take and crawled backwards until the wall stopped her. Victoria grinned down at her wickedly with death in her eyes. "Oh is that how you're gonna treat an old friend?" She spat. "You're not even gonna try to apologize? Not that it would help your case. But if it wasn't for you, naughty little vixen, he'd still be with me. So you're gonna pay and your precious Edward is gonna feel exactly what I feel when I'm done with you." Bella stared back at her. She could almost sympathize with her, seeing the pain and anger so prominently in the redheads eyes. Almost. "But he left me. He doesn't love me anymore. He won't give a damn." She protested. Victoria chuckled shaking her head. "You don't our kind very well, do you?" Bella didn't really have time do dwell on that statement because then Victoria's expression turned dead serious. "Enough with the smalltalk. Lets get down to business." She stated and closed the distance between them in a few strong strides and death in her eyes.


	2. running against time

**Blood Moon**

**running against time**

Alice was feeling wary. Edward was about to check in with them again. It had been months since they had last seen him. He was trying to protect them, because he knew how it hurt them to see him suffer like he did. So he kept his distance was convinced that they should have never left_ 'to protect her' _as Edward put it. It was tearing their family apart. Edward was gone all the time. Jasper was feeling like this was all his fault, she herself was still asking herself why she hadn't seen it coming. Bella had brought back some sparkle, some excitement back to their lifes. Some variety. Something they hadn't had for centuries. And now that it was gone even Rosalie missed it - not that she would ever admit that to anyone but Emmett.

Edward was about to arrive a few minutes from now. So she went into the living room to join the rest of the family. No one knew how long he was going to stay this time and when they would see him again. So the whole family was assembled in the living room. Alice stole a worried glance at Jasper. Although she was glad to see her favourite brother again - she had missed him dearly - she knew it wasn't gonna be all bright and shiny. Jasper was going to suffer the most, feeling Edwards pain full force. And sure enough as Edwards car pulled up Jasper stiffened next to her. She took his hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

But just as Edward set foot into the house Alice's eyes glazed over with a vision. Edward stopped dead in his tracks everyone looked expectantly at her. Then hot tears rolled down her cheeks and Edward let out an agonized scream. "God Alice! What is it?! What did you see?!" Jasper shrieked alarmed grabbing her shoulders to steady her. "Bella ... Victoria is taking her away" she choked out then she turned to Edward "and we're already to late ..." her voice broke. "I have to at least try!" He argued with her. Alice looked at him intently and whispered "she's gonna take her time ..." she averted her gaze "... torturing her." Everyone gasped and Edward was already out the door. "We need to help him." Alice stated as Jasper embraced her kissing her forehead and sending her calming waves. "It's not gonna be easy to find her."

Alice was crying on Jaspers shoulder on the backseat of Carlisles Mercedes. Emmett and Rosalie were in Rosalie's car right behind them. Jaspers attempts to calm her took little effect. Carlisle was driving as fast as the car would go while Jasper and Esme exchanged worried glances. Then Alice was struck by another vision, seeing Victoria torture Bella and broke down, shaking violently from her sobs.

Bella didn't know how long it was since Victoria had abducted her. It felt like years to her. And it seemed like the redhead was going to use every torture technique that any sick sadistic mind had ever thought of on her. It felt like every single bone in her body was broken and that might just be the case. Her skin was burned. She had been drowned ... She was exhausted from the excruciating pain as well as the lack of sleep and food. She longed death to finally embrace her, so that the pain would be over at last. But Victoria made sure to keep her alive - or more like on the verge of life and death. But as the redhead approached her now Bella sensed that something was different. It seemed like she was now headed for the final. Bella assumed is was going to be over very soon now. How wrong she was.

Victoria grabbed her roughly by her shoulders and sunk her sharp teeth deep into her neck. Bella's eyes shot open from the new kind of pain as she felt the venom seeping into her system and her blood flowing from her body. And a weak smile graced her features it was gonna be a matter of seconds now. But then Victoria suddenly stopped and stepped back. Bella was confused. What was that supposed to mean? The redhead watched contend as she trashed and screamed and begged for her to finally kill her. Then she bend down and whispered in her ear amused "Now now lets not get ahead of ourselves. You will die soon enough ... once this is complete."

The Cullens had arrived in Forks and were searching the woods for Bella. They knew from Alice's visions that she was held in some kind of a cave and that she was still alive, but they knew their time was running out. They had to find her soon. So they had split up to be more effective. Alice and Jasper were with Edward. Carlisle was with Esme and Emmet and Rosalie were together. Alice stopped dead in her tracks as jet another vision hit her. "She is changing her" She gasped. "... only to eliminate her afterwards" Jasper was by her side and tried to comfort her again. Edward growled agonized, seeing Bella in Alice's vision.


	3. deaths

**Blood Moon**

**Deaths**

Victoria decided that she needed to hunt. She would need all her strength to kill her newborn and it had been far to long since she had had a proper meal. She had hardly been able to stop herself from sucking Bella dry. So she left the helpless girl behind. The transformation would take approximately another day and a half. Giving her enough time to restore her resources.

The Cullens were still searching the forrest for any sign of Bella. Emmet and Rosalie had almost given up when they suddenly felt the presence of another Vampire nearby. The looked at each other an nodded - Victoria.

Victoria was on her way back to civilization to find herself a proper meal when suddenly her instincts kicked in. She turned around looking for the trigger, when she spotted two of the vampires Bella had been on the baseball field with. The biggest one of them and his mate - the one that looked like a Barbie doll. She cursed under her breath. She should have never let herself get this weak. They have come far to close before she noticed them. She acted quickly now, running off in the opposite direction. They chased after her and almost caught up with her but then they suddenly stopped. This confused her but she kept on running to make sure she was safe. When she was sure that they were no longer on her tracks she stopped. Why had they given up when they were so close? Why did she still feel threatened? That's when she heard the growl. The damn dogs. She had forgotten all about them. Her path was cut off by two of them. She spun around and found herself face to face with another one. She looked around. She was circled. They were slowly narrowing in on her. Then they attacked jumping right at her.

Emmet and Rosalie caught up with the others. "Victoria" Rosalie reported. "She was hunting in think. We almost had her." "but she crossed over to the mongrel's land" Emmet finished for her. "We waited. They finished her off." Rosalie concluded. The others nodded uneasily. Bella was safe from Victoria now, but she was transforming into a vampire this very moment, all alone and they still had no idea where she was. "We have to find her before the change is complete, so she won't get in trouble. How much time do we have left Alice?" Jasper stated. "24 hours tops. She bit her about two days ago." Alice answered. "She came from the north west." Emmet informed. "All right, we need to hurry." Edward stated before he took off with Alice and Jasper right behind him.

Meanwhile Bella was experiencing excruciating in pain. She opened her eyes looking around anxiously. It was dark but she could see everything very clearly. Roughly shaped wet stone walls Bats hanging from the ceiling but aside from them she was alone there was no one else. She tried to scream for help but she couldn't open her mouth. She couldn't make a sound. In spite of the intense pain she was feeling everywhere in her body like flames licking through her veins, she tried to stand up. But her body wouldn't obey her. She couldn't move a muscle aside from her eyes. Hot and angry tears rolled down her cheeks. She was held prisoner in her own body.

After what felt like days to her the pain changed. It retreated slowly from her fingertips and toes. But in her center the burning sensation intensified by multiple degrees and her heartbeat picked up a frantic pace and it felt like burning hot sand from the desert was puring down her dry throat. Suffocating her. Making her long for something she couldn't quite put her finger on. All of this scared her even more. she could feel herself starting to panic. Then the burning pain retreated further from her hands and feet and further to the center of her body. The parts that were pain free now felt strangely cool in comparison to the rest of her burning hot body. The pain in her heart was intensifying even more. It was beating faster and faster like it was gonna jump right out of her chest. Her back arched as if the fire was dragging her up and her torso slammed down on the hard, damp surface. Then her heart missed a few beats, stuttered once more and stopped with one last thump.

She was lying very still for some time relishing the silence and the blissful absence of pain. Then she sat up. She still felt that strangely uncomfortable sensation in her throat. But she had other things to worry about and tried to ignore it as best as she could. She looked down at her body confused. Why had she been in so much pain? She looked perfectly fine. Was she dead? And if she was, was this heaven or hell or something entirely different? She stood up awkwardly and navigated her way towards some kind of a lake. The water was crystal clear and shimmering slightly pinkish. (A/N: from her blood loss. but she obviously doesn't remember that) She took a step closer and suddenly there was someone staring back at her. She shrieked away from her and stared suspiciously at the water. But she longed for something to cure the burning in her throat, so she kneeled down anyway and drank the water greedily. But that wasn't helping at all. It made her feel sick and she threw it all up again coughing furiously, tears of frustration brimming in her eyes. She stared into the water. That strangely beautiful woman was staring back at her again and Bella reached out to her and so did she but when her fingers touched the surface of the water her image blurred. And she realized that it was her reflection. She stared at herself mesmerized touching her unnaturally pale white face and feeling her hair. Smooth like silk. But her eyes were ... red. Flaming red.

She was taken out of her reverie when she remembered the burning thirst in her throat again. So she stood back up and wandered towards the distant light. She stepped outside into blinding sunlight noticing her skin glistening and held her arm in front of her face turning it around in awe. Then she walked away from the cave. She was in a forrest. But something was off. Since when was a forrest this … loud. All this twittering, clattering and rustling. She had no idea where she was going or what she was looking for but she began to wander through the trees. Images of a girl flashed through her mind. She was beautiful and quite petite. She looked so fragile crying and shaking. It made her uncomfortable. She tried to shake them off, but they kept popping up, haunting her.

She had been wandering through the forrest for a long time when a delicious scent hit her and the burning sensation in her throat intensified even more. She felt a strange longing for whatever it was and started to run following the scent. She ran so fast, it felt like flying and she didn't even trip once. She was a little proud of herself. After a while she heard voices and laughter ... and something like tiny little drums? Then she could make out a clearing ahead of her with tents and little kids running around. She stopped and angled her head to the side in wonder.


	4. reunion

**A/N: Well this would have been up 2 days ago, but I've been having trouble uploading - actually I still have, but I kind of found a way around. Anyway if anyone knows how I can fix this, I'd appreciate you enlightening me** + constructive critique or creative suggestions are always welcome.

* * *

**Blood Moon**

**Reunion**

Alice abruptly stopped. She had another vision. Bella. Her transformation was complete. She was a vampire now. But suddenly Alice shrieked "No!" Edwards eyes widened. "God, please no!" He gasped. Jasper looked back an forth between them feeling left out. They were feeling anxious. He noted. "What is it?" He demanded. "She is hunting" Alice answered "… there are children." Jasper's features hardened.

Two little giggling girls were skipping in Bellas direction. She was still staring strangely at them. The beating of the little drums was getting louder. As they noticed Bella, they approached her cheerfully. Completly oblivious to the great danger they were in. "Are you all alone? What's your name?" One of them asked her. She took a deep breath inhaling that sweet scent. The other tucked at her hand. "Come and play with us." Mesmerized by their smell, she looked down at the little creature hungrily. She felt a strong urge to bite her delicate little neck. Venom was pooling in her mouth and she put her hand up to her mouth, bewildered by these strange feelings and those cruel and morbid thoughts. That was when she saw that petite girl in her head again. She was looking away from her with a pained expression on her face and then the image suddenly changed. A beautiful young man with bronze hair was staring directly at her now and shouted right in her face 'RUN!' It scared her and she ran as fast as she could.

Alice stopped again confused. "She ... she's running away … ?" She stammered. "She … doesn't kill them." Edward let out a relieved sigh and Jasper stared at her shocked. "What?!" He gasped. "How is that possible?!" Alice shook her head. "I have no idea. But that doesn't matter now. They are save and so is she. We just have to find her and take her home."

Bella wandered through the forrest again loosing track of time. She was scared and alone. She still didn't now where she was and how she got here and she was in a strange body that wasn't hers. Even if someone would find her, would they even recognize her? Would she recognize them? The burning in her throat was driving her insane. And when another image of the sorrowful petite girl entered her mind she could not take it anymore and sat down under a tree hugging ber legs to her body rocking herself back and forth.

Suddenly Edwards head snapped to the side and he came to a complete hold Jasper almost crashed into him. Alice looked around until she too noticed the scent. Vampire. Not one of their family members. Hopefully Bella. Jasper had gotten it too. They followed the scent until they finally saw her tiny form sitting under a tree her head leaning on her knees rocking herself. "Careful" Alice whispered and held Edward back by the arm, stopping him from dashing right over to her in his excitement. He then looked at Bella closely and realised that Alice was right. "I'll go. You two stay behind." She ordered. "I look the least threatening." She argued in her singsongy voice as Edward glared at her. He thought about it for a moment staring intently at Bella and finally nodded.

Alice walked over slowly. She didn't want to startle her. Bella didn't seem to notice her at first. Then her head suddenly shut up and she looked frightened before recognition washed over her features. She settled for a look of confusion at last cocking her head to the side. Alice was beyond confused when Bella reached out a hand to touch her face in awe. "Are you Ok, Bella?" She asked. "Belll-laaa" She echoed drawing out the syllables. Alice looked at her like she had grown two heads. "Is that me?" Bella asked. Finally Alice's face lit up in understanding. "Yes." She answered. "You don't know who you are?" Bella looked at her funny. "I'm Bella." She stated matter of factly. Alice nodded slowly sending a worried glance in the boy's direction. "Who are you?" Bella asked. "I'm Alice. We used to be friends." Bella's forehead crumbled in confusion. "used to be friends?" She echoed "So we're not anymore?" She asked in a sad tone. "No I'm still your friend. We just haven't seen each other … for a while." Alice corrected her in an equally sad tone. "I see you in my head all the time." Bella stated as if it was the most normal thing to say. "What?!" Alice shrieked surprised. But Bella didn't seem to notice or she ignored it. "You always look so sad. You were crying …" She trailed off while caressing Alice's cheek. Alice reached for her hand and held it on the side of her face holding Bellas gaze.

Alice snapped out of her reverie and cleared her throat. "So ... you don't remember anything?" Edward took a hopeful step forward. "I don't know. There was all this pain and now my body is … well different and my throat hurts and I don't know where I am?" Alice nodded slowly. Edwards face fell. That would be 'yes'. Bella still looked at Alice expectantly. Alice glanced over helplessly to where Edward and Jasper were standing. Bella followed her gaze and gasped. "You!" Edward stared at her anxious. "You were in my head too - You told me to run." They all stared at her with blank expressions until Alice realized what she meant. "That's why you didn't kill those girls." "Huh?!" "Never mind." Alice reassured her. Edward took a few steps closer. "Well I'm Edward. We used to ... know each other too." He phrased carefully.

"So you didn't feed jet?" Edward asked. "Feed?" Bella echoed again. "You're a vampire Bella." Alice explained. "A newborn" Jasper cut in. "You need blood ..." she looked at him appelled "… the burning in your throat?" Edward asked. "Oh!" Bella finally got the picture. "You need to hunt. Don't worry we'll help you." Jasper assured her. "Then you'll come home with us and we'll figure everything out." Alice chirped and held her hand out to help Bella up. "What are we gonna hunt?" Bella asked apprehensively. "Animals!" Edward exclaimed startling her. Alice positioned herself behind Bella shooting him a glare and put her hands on her shoulders. Edward stood right in front of her. "Close your eyes." He instructed. "And concentrate on your instincts"

After she was done she let the dead body of the mountain lion fall to the ground and looked up at them selfconciously. "I'm all dirty." They chuckled softly. "That's ok Bella. You did good for your first time." Edward assured her. "You're feeling better now, right?" He asked. She nodded eagerly. He closed the distance between them and reached for her face. "Then we can go home now ..." She was frozen in place. Lost in his eyes and as his hand finally touched her face, she felt electricity shooting through her. And all kinds of images flashed before her eyes. She leaned into his touch. She was brought back to the present by Jasper clearing his throat loudly. "I hate to interrupt, but we should probably get going." He said. Alice grinned at them, took Jasper's hand and they ran away. "Hey ..." Bella reached after them, but Edward stopped her. "They're gonna inform the rest of the family that we found you." Then he held out his hand to her. "Shall we?" She took it smiling up at him and nodding.

He led her back to the Cullen residence. She looked up at the huge house fascinated. "Wow." She breathed. He chuckled. "They're waiting for us inside." She nodded refocusing. "Right" She gulped. He looked back at her. "Nervous?" She nodded. "Don't worry." He smiled reassuringly "They already adore you ... well most of them anyways."


	5. welcome home

**Blood Moon**

**Welcome home**

Edward laid Bella into the house. He had told her that those people already knew and supposedly liked her, but she couldn't help being a little nervous because they would still feel like strangers to _her_ and her current attire didn't exactly help matters either – being half naked with only panties and a big T-Shirt on and with animal blood all over her. So as they stepped into what she assumed to be the living room she made sure to stay hidden behind Edward peering up from behind his shoulder. There were six people waiting for them. She recognized Jasper and Alice from earlier. Alice beamed at her while Jasper gave her an encouraging nod and she felt her nerves calm down a little. The people she didn't recognize were a ridiculously beautiful tall blond girl, who gave her a strange look Bella couldn't quite read. A really big dark haired guy had his arm around blond's waist and beamed at Bella much like Alice but with a kind of expectant touch to it. Then there was a slightly older looking blond guy with a beautiful woman on his arm. They both seemed really kind giving her warm welcoming smiles. Just as she had taken all this in Edward cleared his throat and started to introduce them. "Well Bella, this is our family. You already know Alice and Jasper. Then there is Rosalie and Emmett." The big dark haired guy waved at her excitedly while the blond girl just nodded her head with a slight smile fluttering across her face. "And our 'parents'" He made little air quotes. "Carlisle and Esme." Bella stared at him puzzled. He sighed and elaborated. "It's to keep up appearances, so the humans won't get suspicious ... Like a cover story? Officially we are all adopted by Carlisle and Esme." Bella nodded slowly still a little confused. Esme just shook her head flashing a charming smile as she spoke up. "Don't worry honey. We can clear that up later. Let's get you settled in first."

That seemed to be Alice's cue, because she bounce forward making Bella jump a little. „Come on" She chirped grabbing her hand. "Lets get you cleaned up." She nodded and followed Alice upstairs down a hallway and into a big fancy bathroom. Bella took a look around astonished while Alice took off the bloody T-Shirt, helped Bella out of her panties. Then she turned on the water in the shower before she maneuvered them into it. Alice washed all the blood away carefully then she turned off the water and wrapped Bella into a big fluffy towel. "Follow me." She ordered and they stepped out of the bathroom and into a spacious bedroom. Alice pulled some underwear out of a dresser and threw it at Bella to put on while she opened the doors to a huge closet on the far wall and digged through the clothes. Bella couldn't see her anymore and wondered if she actually could get lost in this mass of clothes. Then she jumped out grinning with a cute little dress on her arm. "There you go." She beamed holding the dress out. Bella just stared at her dumbfounded then at the dress and back at her and a frown appeared on Alice's delicate features. "Fine." She huffed and turned around to disappear in the closet again. "Apparently your fashion sense is still like retarded." This time she returned with Jeans and a wide Shirt and Bella put them on.

After she was done Alice led her into a different room down the hall where Carlisle and Edward were waiting for them. Bella glanced around. There were a lot of books. Carlisle smiled kindly at her. "Well Bella would you like to sit down?" He gestured towards a small couch. Bella shrugged and sat down with Alice by her side. "So …" Carlisle spoke up. „Alice and Edward said that you don't remember what happened to you?" Bella nodded. "What exactly do you remember about yourself?" Bella thought for a moment. But all she could come up with was what happened after she awoke in that cave and the images in her head she couldn't quite make sense of. She shook her head frustrated. "It's OK." Carlisle reassured her. "Take your time." She wrinkled her forehead concentrating on the memories. "Well there was this pain and I couldn't move ... or cry … and then it was gone and I was in a cave and then there was the forest and it was so … loud. And I went like looking for … something … or … I don't know. And there were little girls and I was feeling really strange and _he_ told me to run" She pointed at Edward. "So I ran. And then Alice, Edward and Jasper found me." Carlisle nodded contemplating this.

"Alice said you were … seeing her?" He prodded and Bella bowed assent. "Yeah she was in my head … and she was so … sad … she cried." She explained. Carlisle gazed back and forth between Bella and Alice seemingly deep in thought. "Interesting." Edward commented. Bella shot a confused glance at him. "Oh right! You don't know." Alice exclaimed beside her. "Edward can read minds – except yours that is." She explained. "And it's really annoying when he's conversing with somebody's thoughts and you're like _left out_." She glared at Edward, who shrugged sheepishly. "Carlisle is wondering if maybe she saw you having your visions of her. Like there has been a deeper connection formed between the two of you in the process." Alice bowed her head pondering the theory. "Hmmm that might be an explanation ... It certainly can't be memories since I have never cried in front of her." "Exactly." Edward stated. Bella was confused again. What were they talking about? "Visions?" She wondered out loud. "Alice can see the future." Edward explained. "And it can be pretty annoying when she's always the first to know about everything and not shutting up about it - Miss-know-it-all." He added smugly imitating Alice's words and she stuck out her tongue at him. Bella cracked a smile at their antics. "But you said you saw Edward too …" Carlisle mused ignoring their banter and Bella nodded her head again shuddering as she thought about it. "He looked scarry … angry and he yelled at me." She declared. And Carlisle seemed to contemplate that.

"But Alice never talked to you in your visions?" Bella shook her head no. "She was …" She wrinkled her nose searching for the right words to describe it. "… like behind a window? It's hard to describe." There was a long pause. "Well we'll figure this out. Is there anything else? Something you recognize? Something that might feel familiar to you, not just because of the visions?" Carlisle urged. And Bella thought hard again. Then she remembered when Edward had touched her in the woods. Just before Jasper had interrupted them. "Edward." Bella stated and they looked at her expectantly. Hopeful. "when … when he touched me – my face. It felt familiar. I liked it." She averted her gaze embarrassed. "And There were all those strange pictures in my head." Edward was grinning like madly while Carlisle smiled pleased and Alice was practically bouncing with joy. Why was everyone like jumping up and cheering at that revelation? Bella wondered. "Well that is a start. Maybe your memories or parts of them will come back to you when they are triggered. I think we'll leave it at that for now so you can get some rest."

After all that talk about her condition and everything Bella and Edward were going to recline to his room. As they stepped out into the corridor they ran into Jasper and Alice practically jumped at him smiling like a Cheshire Cat. Edward shook his head trying not to laugh out loud. "Keep it down. Will you?" He stated before he led Bella into what was supposedly his room and she glanced around. It seemed familiar. Like she had been there before. "No bed?" She asked and he grinned. "We don't sleep." Bella looked perplexed. "ever?" And he shook his head still that amused smile playing around his features. "We've had that same conversation the first time I showed you that room." He explained and she returned his smile. "Well what are we gonna do all night if we don't sleep?" She asked. He took a step closer. "We'll think of something." He stated huskily. She held her breath. Her body was tingling with excitement. And then he reached behind her turning on the stereo. "Clair de lune" she mused absentmindedly and his face lit up. He took her hand and lead her to the couch where they sat down. "Do you want me to tell you something about you or …?" She nodded "I'd like that." "Alright." He smiled marveling her. There was a moment of silence before she sighed. "It feels strange being the only one who doesn't know myself." She grimaced.

"Well what do you wanna know?" She thought for a moment before she answered. "How did we meet?" He cracked a smile shifting in his seat. "We met at school. You were the new student." Edward started telling her their story and everything he knew about her life before they had met. Telling her about her parents what they were like. What she used to be like. It made her feel a little more confident knowing a little more about herself although she still felt like they were talking about somebody else and maybe that even was the case after all she was something entirely different now. However she did recognized some of the pictures she had seen in her head as he had touched her face.

She was propped against the armrest of the couch with her legs in Edwards lap musing over what he had just told her. "So we were … together?" She asked sheepishly. Edward cringing at the past tense use but she didn't notice. "Yes we were …" He trailed off and opened his mouth to say something else but decided against it. Instead he traced the crescent shaped scar on her wrist absentmindedly staring off into space. Bella followed his movements with her eyes. And her forehead wrinkled in confusion. "Where did I get that one?" She whispered touching it entranced. He shook off his thoughts taking a deep breath. "That was the downside of our relationship." She stared at him bewildered withdrawing her hand from his grasp. "_You_ did this?" He realized his mistake and struggled to clear up his miss-communication. "No! I failed to protect you. That's what I meant."

Bella relaxed a bit but was still sceptical. "Then who did this?" She asked. He inhaled slowly choosing his words more carefully this time. "We ran into some other vampires and one of them - James took an interest in you." Bella nodded slowly absorbing the news. "We tried to keep you out of harms way and kill him. But he claimed to have captured your mother and you ran off to save her." He frowned. "How was I gonna fight a vampire alone?" She whispered. And he laughed bitterly. "Well I wish you had thought like that back then." He shook his head. And Bella caught on. "Oh!" This had been a suicide mission. Her life for her mothers. "Anyway it turned out that he had tricked you. Your mother was safe but he attacked you. You got hurt pretty badly. That …" he took her hand again and trace the scare with his fingers. She stared down at it transfixed. "… is where he bid you."

There was a prolonged silence until Bella spoke up again. "How did I get away?" She whispered softly glancing up at his face. He smiled ruefully. "We came to rescue you ... We destroyed him and you made it." He edited. After her reaction before he assumed that it would probably not be very wise to tell her about the sucking out the venom part now. He would explain that some other time or maybe she would remember it herself at some point. She leaned forward laying her head on his shoulder. "So you saved me …" She breathed staring off into space musing about the familiarity of his touch and how he made her feel so safe even though she just met him. Well she obviously knew him before she lost her memory, but … wait. Her head snapped up as she put the pieces together. He was startled by that sudden change of attitude. "What's wrong, Bella?" He asked uneasily just as he heard Alice wince in the other room but she was hiding her thoughts from him.

That was when Bella spoke up. "Where .... were you when this happened?" She demanded gesturing at herself and staring at him precautiously. He froze like deer caught in the headlights. When he didn't answer she spoke up again. "Back in the woods Alice said that we hadn't seen each other in a while or something like that. And you said ... something similar." That seemed to bring him out of his trance and he cleared his throat noisily running his hands through his hair. He looked distressed. She noted. That kind of confirmed her suspicion and she stood up walking away from him. "What's been going on?" She requested anxiously. He reached out for her. "Bella it's not what you think." He declared desperately.

She cocked her head to the side furrowing her brows. "How do you know what I think? I thought you couldn't read my mind?" He took a few steps closer reaching out for her. "Bella, please let me explain." This caused her to stumble backwards shielding herself with her arms. "Don't come any closer. I just want to know what is going on here. Explain this." She pleaded. And he slumped shifting on his feet. "There was an … incident at your birthday party about eight month ago … You had a paper cut … and Jasper lost control." She gasped stepping farther backwards and her back hit the wall. It pained him to see her shy away from him like this. Like she should have done when she had first found out about his identity. Ironically she did it now that it was to late and she was even stronger than he was as a newborn vampire. He didn't comment though realizing that nothing he'd say would make her drop her guard now. He just had to tell her the ugly truth and hope for her forgiveness.

So he continued. "We stopped him ... He didn't hurt you. But it was the second time since we had been together that you were in danger like this so …" He took a deep breath eying her wearily. "I decided it would be better for you if we stayed out of your life … And we left …" He ran his hands through his hair exasperated and his voice was weak when he spoke again. "I just wanted you to be safe and have a normal life." She eased up her stance. Something in her reacted to his despair. She couldn't see him like this. Miserable. Desperate. Forlorn. Discouraged. It hurt her.

"I didn't know this would happen. I'm so sorry." He shook his head frantically keeping his gaze down. She walked over to him warily. "What is it that happened to me?" He looked up startled by her closeness. She had lowered her guard. That gave him some slight hope again. Maybe he wouldn't loose her after all. "That vampire … the one that bid you … he had a mate – Victoria and she was ... resentful because we killed him. So she …" He closed his eyes a painful expression flashing over his features as he remembered what he had seen in Alice's visions. "… she abducted you … Alice saw it, but it was too late. We were too far away to make it in time to safe you …" He gulped. "There were more vision as we tried to find you … the one's Carlisle was referring to earlier." Bella nodded making the connection. "When I saw her?" "Yes, probably" He answered. Knowing the next question before she even asked it. "What were they about? She was so … upset."

Bella knew it must have been bad. But she had to know. "Victoria … she … she took her time … tor-torturing you." Bella squeezed her eyes shut. This was horrible. She was thanking whatever power of the universe that she didn't have to remember any of it. "We were running against time to find you. In the end she changed you and was going to destroy you afterwards." He met her confused gaze. "Why?" He swallowed taking her hand glad that she didn't shrink away this time. "The pain you remember. It was the change. It is very painful. It usually lasts for about three days. That was the final torture." Tears were streaming down her face. He embraced her rubbing soothing circles on her back. "I'm so sorry. I wish I could have spared you all of this. I would have done anything." He whispered in her ear a few solitary tears rolling down his cheeks. "Why … why wasn't she there when I …" She trailed off for a loss of words. He loosened the embrace to look at her and she saw his tears. Something inside her rebelled at this sight. He should never be so … sad. And she reached up her hand and carefully brushed the tears away. At first he was somewhat perplexed by her actions but then he leaning into her touch savouring the feeling.

As she was done he spoke up to answer her question. "Rosalie and Emmett found her." "The blond one and the big guy?" She asked and he chuckled. "Yeah. She was hunting. They chased her up to the border to Quilleute land. We can't cross it. But the wolves on the other side killed her." He explained. "Wolves?" She wondered but he brushed it off. "It's a long story." She nodded. Some other time. There had been enough to process for one night especially after such a strenuous day. They settled on the couch once again holding and consoling one another in comfortable silence for the rest of the night.

* * *

A/N: This took forever to write. Hope it was worth it. At least now I'm back on the track.


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